Scientific Drilling in the Sevier Desert Basin

Testing the Extensional Detachment Paradigm

Geological studies in the proposed borehole are aimed at elucidating the character of the Paleozoic-Cenozoic contact and the long-term evolution of the basin - together constituting a new critical test of the detachment hypothesis. In situ measurements are aimed at determining the conditions under which displacement may have taken place, as recently as the Holocene, consistent with the generally accepted interpretation of the geology.